Welcome to the Website of the Scottish Pottery Society
Founded in 1972, the Society is a registered charity which exists to promote the study of Scottish ceramics.
Why the Society exists
Our members are united by a passion for all types and eras of ceramic production in Scotland, including the output of:
- Industrial potteries from around 1750-1950
- Arts-and-crafts potteries and pottery painting workshops from around 1880-1930
- Hand-crafted studio potteries from around 1930 to today.
Members include collectors, researchers, working potters, museum curators, university academics, archaeologists, beachcombers, antique dealers, auction specialists, people with historical connections to family potteries, and those with no specialist expertise but simply an admiration and love for the amazing variety of ceramics produced in Scotland over the past several centuries.
What the Society does
Meetings and Activities
The Society organises a lively programme of meetings, presentations and visits including our annual one-day Scottish Pottery Event.
Regular meetings are held for members and guests in Glasgow and Edinburgh, and are increasingly live-streamed on the internet. Speakers are prominent specialist academics, researchers, collectors and practitioners.
Click here for details of the current meetings programme
Research
Many Society members conduct research projects relating to a wide variety of Scottish pottery topics. Their reports are published in our journal the Scottish Pottery Historical Review (SPHR).
After more than half a century of research, the Society has accumulated a huge archive of published and unpublished material – the most comprehensive collection of writings about Scottish ceramics available anywhere.
Many research resources are freely available on this website for consultation by anyone whose interest in Scottish ceramics leads them here. Further and more specialist research is available online to Members only, including all back issues of SPHR and the Scottish Pottery Society Bulletin.
The Society has an ongoing project to digitise all of its archives for publication on this website.
Publications
The peer-reviewed journal Scottish Pottery Historical Review is published by the Society every two years or so. The latest issue, SPHR29, edited by Bill McConnell, was published in November 2025. All current Members receive a printed copy as one of the benefits of membership, and an online version will also be available to Members on this website in the near future.
The Society is always very grateful to receive submissions of articles for publication in future issues of SPHR. If you have an article for submission, please contact us.
Social Media
The Society has a lively Facebook group at www.Facebook.com/Groups/ScottishPottery.
If you have a piece of pottery that you want to know more about, and wonder if it might be Scottish, you can post a query with an image on the Facebook group page. This will give you access to our community which includes some of the world’s most knowledgeable experts on Scottish pottery.
Join the Society
Membership of the Scottish Pottery Society is open to all on payment of a small annual subscription. You can join and pay your subscription online.
Click Here to Join the Scottish Pottery Society
Benefits of Membership
Membership gives you:
- Participation in meetings, presentations, events, visits both in person and online
- Regular email newsletters and updates with reports on meetings, latest research, and planned activities
- Access to all areas of this website, including our archive of Society publications and original research, with more coming online as our digitisation programme progresses
- A printed copy of each new issue of Scottish Pottery Historical Review, the most important and authoritative journal about Scottish ceramics
- Direct access to a network of the world’s most knowledgeable and experienced experts on Scottish ceramics.
- The opportunity to help the Society to advance knowledge and research in Scottish Ceramics
How you can help
The Scottish Pottery Society is run entirely by volunteers, and we’re always grateful to hear from anyone (with or without relevant experience) who is willing to give some spare time to help with our efforts.
We’re looking for people interested in:
- Speaking at events and meetings and online
- Researching and writing articles for our publications
- Building, updating and maintaining our website and social media presence
- Serving as Trustees on the Society’s governing Council
- Taking office-bearer roles, such as President, Secretary, Treasurer, etc.
- Serving on sub-committees to help manage the Society’s core functions
- Scoping, planning and delivering Scottish Pottery events and exhibitions
- Fundraising to help the Society to increase its reach and ensure its financial stability
To ask about how you can help the Society, please contact us.